tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30329797549070094472024-03-13T12:31:40.862-07:00MiniSquadronThis is a blog on the events and development of MiniSquadron, a frantic shooter on the iPhone, involving lots of little planes all vying for supremacy of the skies!Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-41772590354973367762010-04-28T14:32:00.000-07:002010-04-28T14:43:33.614-07:00MiniSquadron Special Edition PressSo MiniSquadron SE has been out for a few days now - massive reaction to it, currently it sits at #11 in both Arcade and Action charts in the USA!! Strangely - it's not getting a look in the UK, but I think that's due to the fact I haven't updated MiniSquadron 1 to let people know about it, and also because it hasn't been featured yet (unlike in the US).<br /><br />I want to actually write down a whole bunch of links to the press that MiniSquadron SE has received, but in particular I've appeared in articles in Edge - which is really fun! Check em out!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.edge-online.com/features/the-friday-game-studio-fungfung">Edge Friday Game Studio</a><br /><a href="http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/how-to-make-it-as-an-indie">Edge How To Make It As An Indie</a><br /><a href="http://nodpad.com/2010/04/18/fox-vs-duck-an-interview-with-tak-fung/">Cool Interview at NoDPad (mostly about Fox Vs Duck but hey whatever)</a><br /><a href="http://toucharcade.com/2010/04/23/minisquadron-special-edition-review-free-to-try/">Touch Arcade Review</a><br /><a href="http://appadvice.com/appnn/2010/04/minisquadron-special-edition-soars-app-store/">AppAdvice Review</a><br /><a href="http://download.cnet.com/MiniSquadron-Special-Edition/3000-2099_4-11374166.html">CNet Review</a><br /><a href="http://theappera.com/2010/04/26/minisquadron-special-edition-new-planes-levels-plus-free-to-begin/">Appera Review</a><br /><a href="http://www.touchmyapps.com/2010/04/26/minisquadron-special-edition-in-review/">TouchMyApps Review TOUCHED!</a>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-43990544113352286142010-04-16T14:52:00.000-07:002010-04-16T15:03:37.818-07:00G4TV's Electric Playground InterviewAt GDC, Electric Playground's Jose did an interview with me about MiniSquadron, Fox Vs Duck and things indie - and I've embedded the video below. Sadly, because I live in the UK, I havent been able to watch this (it has said it'll be available tomorrow for a few weeks now), I have tried all the US proxies etc and none of them worked. In the end I DID manage to watch it - using the following bizarre method:<br /><br />1) My friend (also in the UK) has an account with SkyFire, and for some bizarre reason he can stream the video to his Windows Mobile Phone (with sound).<br />2) So, I use my Mac to Skype with him, unfortunately his webcam doesn't work - so I end up listening to the video<br />3) I then used my PC to use webchat over MSN Live Messenger in order to view his Mobile which was held up to his webcam<br />4) I then watched the video through god knows how many links of disassociation!<br /><br />Just an anecdote that amused me more than anything, but hopefully my American/Canadian friends can watch it here (BE WARNED - it would appear I speak waaaay too fast - like some kinda Gibbering Man):<br /><br />EDIT: And obviously I can watch it in the embedded link below in the UK *doh*<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340" data="http://www.elecplay.com/scripts/flowplayer-3.1.5.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="movie" value="http://www.elecplay.com/scripts/flowplayer-3.1.5.swf" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="flashvars" value='config={"plugins":{"nginx":{"url":"http://www.elecplay.com/scripts/flowplayer.pseudostreaming-3.1.3.swf"}},"clip":{"provider":"nginx","autoPlay":false,"url":"http://vid.elecplay.com/1003/epd100329_3.mp4","start":"24", "linkUrl":"http://www.elecplay.com/watch/20/81/3/24"}}'/></object>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-34733677444716164902010-04-13T15:54:00.001-07:002010-04-13T15:57:19.033-07:00Submitted to App Store!MiniSquadron Special Edition has been submitted to the App Store in all its glory! If everything holds up then it'll be done when it's done - it's out of my hands now!<br /><br />Hint for the future (mainly for self): Making so many games in so little time REALLY HURTS THE BRAIN<br /><br />When I was working in the real world, the following song is only reserved for very special occasions when a game goes "Gold". This is one such moment - please, ladies and gentlemen:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gSq8ZBdSxNU&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gSq8ZBdSxNU&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-6186154235685058612010-04-10T09:59:00.000-07:002010-04-10T10:01:55.774-07:00MiniSquadron Special Edition -Art SketchJust a quick post to show a sketch done by Nils on some rough paper when I was talking to him about the levels and planes in the game. I love silly sketches - especially the blimp thing with a shark face!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S8Cu-bbfPeI/AAAAAAAAASU/jJ8u6H42DUA/s1600/sketch_mini_squadron_07.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S8Cu-bbfPeI/AAAAAAAAASU/jJ8u6H42DUA/s400/sketch_mini_squadron_07.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458555135911214562" /></a>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-53601657506538873232010-04-08T14:11:00.000-07:002010-04-11T13:24:34.383-07:00MiniSquadron Special Edition!MiniSquadron Special Edition has now been revealed to the world! TouchArcade were kind enough to blast out an Exclusive Look here (<a href="http://toucharcade.com/2010/04/08/exclusive-details-on-upcoming-free-minisquadron-special-edition">click</a>). If you want to just check out the action look at the video below (it's a bit blurry - will upload a better quality one soon):<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GxjETrX3LOM&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GxjETrX3LOM&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />I'd also thought I would post a bit more information regarding price and other things that exist in my brain.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What's new in this Special Edition?</span> Let's use the power of bullet points and lists to show you what they are:<br /><br />- 8 brand new levels, beautifully drawn and each accompanied with a track by more Dead Composers,<br />- Helicopters which hover - providing new gameplay opportunities,<br />- Over 50 more planes to unlock,<br />- 2 new pickups: "Rapid Fire" and "Freeze"<br />- A new weapon - Fireballs!<br />- More animals to shoot down - including Jellyfish, Vampires and Hamsters!<br />- OpenFeint Achievements!<br /><br />So there's just as much gameplay in this version again, and hopefully will satisfy fan's hunger for more things to shoot down (come on guys - HAMSTERS!). The inclusion of helicopters changes things up again -you can get them to hover in midair, but they can only shoot left or right. Multiplayer sessions just got a bit more amusing!<br /><br />I should add here that the background art was done by Nils Porrmann this time round - and you should go and check out his website for more of his other work <a href="http://www.dandelion-burdock.com/">here</a>. The crazy animals that you can shoot down are drawn by the one and only <a href="http://www.rexbox.co.uk">Rex Crowle</a>. When you shoot them, you can hear the squeaky voice of Whitney Hills - whos another Indie making a mad game called <a href="http://haymaker-games.com/">Ghost Chef</a>!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What is going on with the Price man?</span> MiniSquadron Special Edition will be available to download, and have 2 levels to play for <span style="font-weight:bold;">FREE</span>. You can then unlock 2 levels at a time for <span style="font-weight:bold;">$0.99/£0.59</span>. This way, you can try the game before deciding to go for more, or buy the extra levels at your leisure. Don't forget <span style="font-weight:bold;">YOU ARE GETTING 2 LEVELS THAT YOU CAN TRY OUT FOR NOTHING!</span> Everyone can try it out!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">When's it out FungFung?</span> The game is currently missing exactly <span style="font-weight:bold;">3 sprites</span>. Yes, that's right and once they're in I should be set to submit. This is likely to be 2 or 3 weeks time, so expect some preview builds in the press before it goes to Apple!<br /><br />Following Fox Vs Duck, I really want to give back to the fans of MiniSquadron, and that is also why I wanted to give some content away as a sign of thanks for the great support I've had. MiniSquadron fans really showed they cared and after meeting some at GDC I really hope you guys will enjoy the madness that is in Special Edition! I leave you with some screenshots of the game, and please leave a comment if you like what you see! (^ 3 ~) (I missed my asian emoticons).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S75Mdzg60CI/AAAAAAAAASI/YvtVcBIwrWc/s1600/Screenshot+2010.04.06+17.09.09.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S75Mdzg60CI/AAAAAAAAASI/YvtVcBIwrWc/s400/Screenshot+2010.04.06+17.09.09.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457883873347817506" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S75Mdl6owGI/AAAAAAAAASA/hKcR40x_u5g/s1600/Screenshot+2010.04.06+17.00.08.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S75Mdl6owGI/AAAAAAAAASA/hKcR40x_u5g/s400/Screenshot+2010.04.06+17.00.08.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457883869697589346" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S75MdCJJYwI/AAAAAAAAAR4/KjN5ANCo3GQ/s1600/Screenshot+2010.04.06+16.58.07.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S75MdCJJYwI/AAAAAAAAAR4/KjN5ANCo3GQ/s400/Screenshot+2010.04.06+16.58.07.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457883860094771970" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S75MccIxeTI/AAAAAAAAARw/VwfV2uI-kvs/s1600/Screenshot+2010.04.06+16.56.06.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S75MccIxeTI/AAAAAAAAARw/VwfV2uI-kvs/s400/Screenshot+2010.04.06+16.56.06.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457883849892657458" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S75Mb0ctCLI/AAAAAAAAARo/1dw9w3dQDWk/s1600/Screenshot+2010.04.06+16.53.18.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S75Mb0ctCLI/AAAAAAAAARo/1dw9w3dQDWk/s400/Screenshot+2010.04.06+16.53.18.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457883839238834354" /></a>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-79370752457607522412010-03-16T16:19:00.000-07:002010-03-27T08:51:25.685-07:00GDC-gasm and MiniSquadron:Special Edition Levels<div style="text-align: left;">Whoops - seems like I only now have time to write a quick post here. I haven't ran away, it's just that as more work is coming up the less time I have to actually write about the work, doh!</div><br />Back from GDC a week ago now, was very happy to see lots of love for MiniSquadron and Fox Vs Duck. Big up Jon and Alex from PocketGamer - lovely guys, and also great meeting with Jeff Scott from 148apps. There were also many other people I ran around and met but too many to list here - I should mention Jason Citron and Eros Remininininini (of OpenFeint) as they were pretty fun, just a shame I couldn't hang too long. (Jason has really big hair - it rocks). If I met you or missed you (sorry Keith from Imangi!! and sorry Trevor from AppAdvice!) leave a comment in the blogs and let me pretend I'm still in San Francisco with the crazies!<br /><br />At GDC itself loads of great lectures and people. Big takeaways were in-app monetisation and "social gaming" in the wider sense of the word. Check out <a href="http://gowalla.com/">Gowalla</a> and PackRat, social games with real world consequences, that's what really piqued my interest. Also related would be CCP's Eve Online - their talk on the crazy metagames played by people in the real world was both hilarious and exciting. And no piece about GDC is complete without a mention to Uncharted 2!<div><br />During the end of GDC I did a quick interview with G4TV - here's a picture taken by <a href="http://dunk3d.com">Duncan Robson</a>. He was also a lovely man I met whilst at the British Indie Devs meet up. Notice my "thousand yard stare" as I was probably still drunk from the night before (I really wasn't feeling too good then but hell if I was gonna miss being on G4TV!!)</div><div><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S64buMUz1XI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/R3bbBgcl5zI/s400/GDC_G4TV_interview_small.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453326679188690290" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span>So some new NEWS!! Fox Vs Duck has been out for a while, peaking at a superb position of 14 in Top 25 Paid Apps in UK - mostly down to it being featured in the front page by Apple. Nowhere is it to be seen in the USA though - which is kinda sad. I'll be doing some updates over time for fun as it's such a nice little game, so let's see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserk_(manga)">how dark</a> I can make it as I update..hehe!<br /><br />MiniSquadron news - I've almost finished the next one, which I think will be called MiniSquadron:Special. It's going through some balance checks and final code bug fixes, and it's still missing some assets, but as a teaser - I want to present tiny pictures of all 8 new levels smashed together in the picture below. WOO! More screenshots will be made available as I get some more time to get them all! (Click through for slightly bigger - STILL haven't figured how to paste in bigger pictures in blogger)<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S64hbJunbqI/AAAAAAAAARE/MhNS0wSD5jc/s1600/MiniLevels.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S64hbJunbqI/AAAAAAAAARE/MhNS0wSD5jc/s400/MiniLevels.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453332949143875234" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 301px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Oh also have a gander at some of the new planes (you may spot some helicopters too!):</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S64lFb1aEwI/AAAAAAAAARQ/0QDk-nvThAo/s1600/web_all_planes.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S64lFb1aEwI/AAAAAAAAARQ/0QDk-nvThAo/s400/web_all_planes.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453336974093587202" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 363px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div></div>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-25947359610945397272010-02-28T10:01:00.000-08:002010-02-28T11:29:01.377-08:00Fox Vs Duck! New Game Alert!Finally, I can update my blog! The reason I've been away was I was busy finishing off a brand new game called Fox Vs Duck! So far, the only thing revealed about it is a teaser trailer (see it here www.FoxVsDuck.com), although the game is now in submission at Apple so it will be revealed pretty soon what its all about. Currently also moshing a gameplay video together to show how to play it!<br /><br />So one of the fun things we're messing around with is actually using ChatRoulette to "subversively" advertise the game with a silly video. I just wanted to try it for no reason except that it amuses me ^__^ hee! For those who don't know what ChatRoulette is, it isn't a gambling device with cats invented by the French (as cool as that may sound), but is in fact a video chat program on the web, which randomly pairs you up with people who also happen to be on at the same time as you. It is also well known how to feed a fake video into your webcam (using ManyCam on the Mac for example) so using this bit of knowledege, I decided to ask Artist Dave to make this video of a fox:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gKpOWNg3k3U&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gKpOWNg3k3U&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />On top of that, Artist Dave then went on to write an automated script to type things into the text box - so it "chats" to random people about Foxes and Ducks. We then left this on and let it do its evil work! <br /><br />I don't really think this is anything serious but it was fairly amusing to read some of the responses :D<br /><br />So GDC is next week, I will be loitering around the entrance - better get some American Dollars...Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-39316981460363211372010-02-03T16:05:00.001-08:002010-02-03T16:12:42.285-08:00Listen To Me Wang On About The iPad!Hi. So the iPad is out. Now that I have read everyone else's opinion I can now attempt to offer mine long after anyone has stopped caring. But I tell THE TRUTH and obviously my opinion is far more insightful than anyone elses (ahem).<br /><br />I'm going to try and approach this in a backward approach and try and understand what the iPad is built for and what the audience is, before seeing if that means anything for what I personally do on the device.<br /><br />I like the iPad. It's a "thing" that I would consider buying for my mum and dad. They are old people, and particularly my dad, are not very tech-savvy at all. They barely understand email and they definitely do not understand multi-tasking - that's right, they do not understand "more than one thing happening" on an electronic device, and even after you show and explain it to them, they will still not get it. But why will I buy it for them? What is this thing that I would recommend to people like mum and dad? The iPad is a device attacking the eBook market. Mum and Dad enjoy reading and watching movies. Everything else is a nice extra.<br /><br />Apple are not creating a new market here - that would be an extraordinary move. It's one of the hardest things to do - to create a new market and convince people to buy something completely new. Much like the iPod is a very nice MP3 player, the iPhone is a very nice Cell Phone and the MacBook Air is a very nice laptop, the iPad is basically a very nice eBook. Taking the examples of the iPod, iPhone and the MacBook - they are high end, user friendly products in (at the time) quickly establishing markets with extremely steep trends for sales. Right now, if you look at Kindle, I've read somewhere (a business news site I can't remember) that basically the first and second year sales figures are beating first and second year sales for iPod. This is a *rapidly* growing market - or at least it appears to be, and it's one I think Apple would like to dominate in.<br /><br />What does this mean then? This piece of information guides me in one concrete area - I know what the mindset and the type of the majority of people who would buy this thing. I also know how they will most likely use it. I can also form my own model of how to answer the often thrown about criticisms of it as "it's not that portable" and "it's not as powerful as a netbook" etc. It is AS PORTABLE as an eBook, and it is AS USEFUL as an eBook. And *that* is how the device will be used around the home, and when moving - such as being taken out in trains to read or on holiday lying on the beach. It will also guide me in what to expect of market size too. I think it will be very interesting tracking the iPad against Kindle and Sony's efforts.<br /><br />Do you think I'm a complete crazy? Shove a comment and tell me what you think. And buy MiniSquadron - its an IGF Mobile Finalist baby so I actually have a *reason* to be at GDC now other than just loitering near the entrance as I was planning to do :oDTakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-26479046281117083152010-01-22T14:27:00.000-08:002010-01-22T14:36:02.813-08:00MacBook Fail! GDC Win!Well, seems like my MacBook's hard drive has decided to die! Which means I can't actually code anything, but it does mean I can write a small blog entry! I haven't really lost anything of note - everything is source controlled up - just today's few bits and pieces on BlueTooth code are gone. (Note to self, hurry up and buy that Terabyte Drive to back up the source control every week or something!).<br /><br />So news is, Project FvD was going well, but is now obviously delayed. MiniSquadron Extended is also delayed - but there isn't too much to do on that except wait for the new art to arrive and to balance up the new levels.<br /><br />As I mentioned before - I shall be at GDC and will be happy to meet up with random indies/publishers or whoever - just leave a message or email me and we can hook up on a free evening. It's quite a tight schedule so book early to avoid disappointment! (as if there will be a lot of people dying to meet me - Massive Eagle Alert).<br /><br />Now....time to get that haircut while I wait for Genius (Al Harding The Hero) to get my new harddriveTakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-53872936475275867942010-01-08T15:13:00.000-08:002010-01-08T16:56:44.957-08:00Award Thingybobs And SNOWRight, I'm a bit slow in getting this posted, but it looks like people like MiniSquadron - enough for them to put it through to no less than SEVEN categories for 2009 Best App Ever! It's up again some monstrous big boys in them though - and I would be very surprised if it actually won anything - but hey let's not give up without a fight eh? Vote for me using the GIGANTOR buttons I have created below - and hopefully I'll have another thing I can show my mum which she can understand!<br /><br /><div style="margin-right: auto;margin-left: auto;width: 160px;background-color: #242426;padding: 5px;border: 3px solid #731616;"><center><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/bapp/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/bae-small_2009.png" border=0></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size: 10pt;<br />line-height: 12pt;<br />text-align:center;color: #d9d9d9;">Vote for<br><b>MiniSquadron</b><br>in<br><b>Best App Ever</b><br><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/bapp/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/button_vote.png" border=0></a></span></center></div><br /><div style="margin-right: auto;margin-left: auto;width: 160px;background-color: #242426;padding: 5px;border: 3px solid #731616;"><center><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/grgm/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/bae-small_2009.png" border=0></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size: 10pt;<br />line-height: 12pt;<br />text-align:center;color: #d9d9d9;">Vote for<br><b>MiniSquadron</b><br>in<br><b>Best Game Graphics</b><br><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/grgm/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/button_vote.png" border=0></a></span></center></div><br /><div style="margin-right: auto;margin-left: auto;width: 160px;background-color: #242426;padding: 5px;border: 3px solid #731616;"><center><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/gcgm/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/bae-small_2009.png" border=0></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size: 10pt;<br />line-height: 12pt;<br />text-align:center;color: #d9d9d9;">Vote for<br><b>MiniSquadron</b><br>in<br><b>Best Game Controls</b><br><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/gcgm/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/button_vote.png" border=0></a></span></center></div><br /><div style="margin-right: auto;margin-left: auto;width: 160px;background-color: #242426;padding: 5px;border: 3px solid #731616;"><center><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/mpgm/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/bae-small_2009.png" border=0></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size: 10pt;<br />line-height: 12pt;<br />text-align:center;color: #d9d9d9;">Vote for<br><b>MiniSquadron</b><br>in<br><b>Best Multiplayer Game</b><br><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/mpgm/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/button_vote.png" border=0></a></span></center></div><br /><div style="margin-right: auto;margin-left: auto;width: 160px;background-color: #242426;padding: 5px;border: 3px solid #731616;"><center><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/rtgm/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/bae-small_2009.png" border=0></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size: 10pt;<br />line-height: 12pt;<br />text-align:center;color: #d9d9d9;">Vote for<br><b>MiniSquadron</b><br>in<br><b>Best Retro Reborn Game</b><br><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/rtgm/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/button_vote.png" border=0></a></span></center></div><br /><div style="margin-right: auto;margin-left: auto;width: 160px;background-color: #242426;padding: 5px;border: 3px solid #731616;"><center><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/acgm/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/bae-small_2009.png" border=0></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size: 10pt;<br />line-height: 12pt;<br />text-align:center;color: #d9d9d9;">Vote for<br><b>MiniSquadron</b><br>in<br><b>Best Action Game</b><br><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/acgm/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/button_vote.png" border=0></a></span></center></div><br /><div style="margin-right: auto;margin-left: auto;width: 160px;background-color: #242426;padding: 5px;border: 3px solid #731616;"><center><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/argm/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/bae-small_2009.png" border=0></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size: 10pt;<br />line-height: 12pt;<br />text-align:center;color: #d9d9d9;">Vote for<br><b>MiniSquadron</b><br>in<br><b>Best Arcade Game</b><br><a href="http://bestappever.com/v/argm/339514220" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/button_vote.png" border=0></a></span></center></div><br /><br />Wow ok, thats a really long list of buttons! In other news I made it at No. 48 in PocketGamer's <a href="http://www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/Pocket+Gamer+round-up/feature.asp?c=17582">Top 50 iPhone Developers</a> of 2009! That's something my mum *almost* understands. And finally I even made it as No .3 in <a href="http://appadvice.com/appnn/2010/01/top-100-iphone-games-through-2009-finale-top-20/">AppAdvice's Top 100 games</a> of 2009!<br /><br />Seom Dev news too:<br /><br />1) My 3 day "Krapp" Project with codename "Indigo Gun" is semi-canned, it will be converted to something less than what it was before and will be released. This is a piss-take app and only peeps who read this blog need know about it in time :o)<br />2) Working 80% full time on New Game with codename Project FvD.<br />3) Working 20% in getting next MiniSquadron "redux"/"remaster" out. Which is basically more levels and planes as a separate sequel/app. This way - it's actually EASIER for me to code (instead of breaking the current game) and will turn out cheaper for you guys cos you get a whole pack of levels & planes and don't have to pay piecemeal for every little thing. BARGAIN BUCKET - *but* you have to wait!<br /><br />Finally - SNOW IN UK! Purty:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S0fTTF6G7wI/AAAAAAAAAP8/N6b9g0pyp9A/s1600-h/IMG_1515.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/S0fTTF6G7wI/AAAAAAAAAP8/N6b9g0pyp9A/s400/IMG_1515.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424536601147928322" /></a>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-64498722197368895102010-01-01T13:25:00.000-08:002010-01-02T07:56:25.935-08:002010 - What's Going On Man?Hey look - it's 2010! And also quite a while since my last post. Well things move fast in the world of iPhone gaming so let's see what has happened in the interim 2 weeks - again in brains spurts:<br /><br />* Appvent Calendar Giveaway! So on 20th of December 2009 (soooo last year) I gave away MiniSquadron for FREE for one day only. I was originally approached to participate in the Appvent but had actually responded too late - but someone had dropped out at the last minute so I decided to give it a shot. A number of people have wondered how that works and so I thought I'd give out some STATS. In one day (less than 24 hours) MiniSquadron was downloaded a total of 77,000 times. Hey that's a massive number man! So that was pretty cool - and I guess really helped to spread the word of the game to a lot of people who just wouldn't have given it a go. Interestingly, the app was never in any Top 25 lists anywhere - so I presume a lot of people were actually watching the Appvent Website. So that's great for PR an' all - costing me exactly one day of sales, but what did it actually do for me AFTER I put the price back to £1.79/$2.99? Well...not much it would seem. There was a little bump (like 20 or so extra copies being sold than the average the following day) but then it continued to do the good ol' Logarithm Decline in sales. <br /><br />The conclusion I came to was it was basically a very good way to get PR, and from what I can tell a lot of people enjoyed the game (well it WAS free), but they wouldn't have paid for it. Which actually brings me onto the second thing to talk about - <br /><br />*) People who downloaded the game for free (and some who didn't) but "expected more". I think a lot of people are expecting too much for iPhone games and are either completely spoilt - or literally don't know how much it costs to produce a game. And the truth is they don't and shouldn't be expected to - this isn't common knowledge. Combine this with the fact that in order to realistically reach Top 100 you have to set a $0.99 price for any new iPhone game without a big fat publisher and the future for small companies look really difficult. The way I see it, the iPhone economy has now given us it's own idea of what games are to be expected and what is possible - cheap, short, "distractions"/small-scale games not costing a lot to develop, leaving the longer, fuller on games to be taken on by larger studios with fat marketing budgets to make sure it sells. If you like that kinda thing great - but if like me, you like quirky, fun and individual efforts that aren't just a single level or a 60 second diversion, and if you don't like the shit games that get peddled out with a big name license - it might be a lot harder for them to come by. But don't listen to me - have a look at the UK Top 25 Paid charts right now - 1/1/2010:<br /><br />1) Doodle Jump $0.99<br />2) Where's Wally $2.99<br />3) Moto X Mayhem $0.99<br />4) Tetris $2.99<br />5) Bejeweled 2 $2.99<br />6) The Moron Test $0.99<br />7) Crash Bandicoot $2.99<br />8) Flight Control $0.99<br />9) iBeer Special $0.99<br />10) Who Wants to be a Millionaire $4.99<br />11) Scrabble $2.99<br />12) Talking Carl $0.99<br />13) Alarm Clock Pro $0.99<br />14) Flick Fishing $0.99<br />15) The Simpsons $4.99<br />16) Cartoon Wars-Gunner $0.99<br />17) The Sims 3 $LOTS<br />18) Ronnie Osullivan Snooker $0.99<br />19) Call of Duty: World At War $LOTS OF $$<br />20) Need for Speed<br />21) Fifa<br />22) Jelly Car 2 (Walt Disney)<br />23) 2XL ATV Offroad<br />24) Tom Clancy's Something or other<br />25) Pocket God<br /><br />From this TINY SAMPLE you can see that all the indie/small games are at the cheapest price. If you look at the Top Grossing you can see mostly its the big companies with the muscle that can charge more money for a well established brand.<br /><br />I guess it's just disheartening to see that what was once a great outlet for small indies trying their luck - it's now so much harder without lots of MONEY to PR their stuff, or they'll have to keep their ideas short and sweet. Looking at that chart now I dont think I would have bothered doing MiniSquadron to as full an extent as it is.<br /><br />SO, with all that - what is happening next? Well I've cut back on a lot of things I was gonna put out for MiniSquadron as free updates, mainly because they take a fair bit of work, and the updates are FREE and bring me no income or any new sales, and ALSO because there are now a significant amount of pirated copies out in the wild and I sure as hell don't want to KEEP giving them free stuff. Do expect a few more bits - but I will be saving the best ideas for another day. There's enough ideas and tech that I want to build up for maybe a second game since so much of it requires big rewrites of the code anyway.<br /><br />Away from MiniSquadron - Studio FungFung/ Mr. FungFung / Me is currently working on a couple of secret titles and some RnD into what the iPhone can do. There may be stuff coming out on other platforms too. For sure it'll be a busy year ahead!! I've also gone and booked myself a plane ticket to SanFrancisco for GDC to maybe hook up with some Giant Publishers, interesting to see what comes out of that. Interestingly I haven't actually booked the GDC pass OR accomodation - I think I'm probably making a lot of this up as I go along....<br /><br />Finally - thank you to everyone who reads this blog, enjoys MiniSquadron and believes in the possibility that the little guy can still take on the big guy with great ideas and a bit of heart. It is because of your support for this that gives people like me a reason to keep making games as opposed to working for a bank.<br /><br />Bring on 2010 - lets risk some more and take no prisoners!<br /><br />EDIT: I have to make clear one thing - MiniSquadron did well in terms of Sales for what it is, and also did very well critically in terms of being an actually fun and full on game. In a recent <a href="http://www.touchgen.net/touchgen-awards-2009">TouchGen Games of 2009</a> MiniSquadron was nominated as Best Arcade game losing out to Space Invaders and Pac Man. I can tell you it feels GREAT to go up against giants like that!Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-67417511490502706632009-12-17T08:23:00.000-08:002009-12-17T10:33:13.288-08:00Space Kraken Wishes You A Merry Xmas And Happy New Year!The incredibly hard working and skilled Rex "rexbox" Crowle has been kind enough to doodle this amazing premonition of what may be to come in 2010 - Space Kraken Vs. MiniSquadron! Go and see more of his creations on his website - <a href="http://www.rexbox.co.uk">www.rexbox.co.uk</a>, including his work on LittleBigPlanet for PS3 and also Grip Wrench - and about a million other projects coming right in your face in 2010!<br /><br />So along with Space Kraken, I wish you all a Merry Xmas and Happy New Year for 2010! (represented by Left and Right Eye Laser respectively) (Click the image for MASSIVE Space Kraken):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SypclP6H0CI/AAAAAAAAAPM/38nMcpDIC8o/s1600-h/minisquadron1santa.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SypclP6H0CI/AAAAAAAAAPM/38nMcpDIC8o/s400/minisquadron1santa.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416243296861671458" /></a>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-51530266910341448152009-12-16T14:11:00.000-08:002009-12-17T05:47:56.129-08:00Competition WinnersWell turns out MiniSquadron fans might not be using a camera phone (maybe it's because they use iPods) but anyway, here are the 3 winners. And because they dared to show their face they each win 2 Promo Codes! Hurray! <br /><br />The first one was titled "Flying fat dude shunned by a kick" by @corleno on twitter...it's kinda scary to be honest because it really does look like fat dude might be able to fly with that expression:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SylccfGlVVI/AAAAAAAAAO0/TMdT3drtWuk/s1600-h/fatdude.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SylccfGlVVI/AAAAAAAAAO0/TMdT3drtWuk/s400/fatdude.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415961671344936274" /></a><br /><br />Good air is achieved by alvindj:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/3412/mefly.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/3412/mefly.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />"Veecheech" looks like he may have passed out from drinking that special brew in his hand:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SylgBVMgLgI/AAAAAAAAAPA/0nAQ7k71NfE/s1600-h/compo_flat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SylgBVMgLgI/AAAAAAAAAPA/0nAQ7k71NfE/s400/compo_flat.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415965602875452930" /></a><br /><br />Thank you and good night!Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-50656009219274929402009-12-13T14:01:00.000-08:002009-12-16T09:49:05.430-08:00Competition And BitsHey you know what? Let's hold a really bizarre competition for some free Promo Codes for the game. I have 10 (TEN!) promo codes for MiniSquadron to give away - and to win one all you have to do is<br /><br /><b>Take a picture of yourself doing your best "plane" impression.</b><div><br /></div><div><b></b>Then tweet me your picture via twitpic/flikr/photobucket/youtube or whatever at my twitter (<b>twitter.com/mrfungfung</b>) or email (<b>mini.squadron.game [at] gmail <dot> com</dot></b>). </div><div><br /></div><div>The winner will be the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">best 10 pictures judged by me at the middle (wednesday or thereabouts) of next week</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></span> Please don't send picture files if possible but link me with an online picture thank you! That way - the whole world can see you "fly" (ahem). Bonus points will be awarded for idiocy, hotness, daring do and general silliness (but PLEASE don't do anything completely mental).</div><div><br /></div><div>I also want to update this site with a few news items. I've discovered I am in fact crap at any sort of sustained prose, so I will say these things as a series of brain farts, each one started off by an asian emoticon:</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">ヽ(`Д´)ノ</span><br /><div>My friend Dom Clubb has a new blog and website here <a href="http://domclubb.blogspot.com/">http://domclubb.blogspot.com/</a> and here <a href="http://www.domclubb.com/">http://www.domclubb.com/</a>: If you scroll down you can see he designed the MiniSquadron Logo and his general character work is ace!</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">ヽ(´ー`)ノ</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;">MiniSquadron LITE is out - just in case no one knows. Seems like I didn't really attempt to market this at all - out of steam poop.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">( ゚Д゚)</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I've entered MiniSquadron into this thing: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; line-height: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; "><a href="http://bestappever.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">http://bestappever.com/</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. It looks really interesting and I hope anyone reading this will go and vote for me! To make it easier - click on these gigantor buttons I have made below:</span></span></span></span></div><br /><div style="margin-right: auto;margin-left: auto;width: 160px;background-color: #242426;padding: 5px;border: 3px solid #731616;"><center><a href="http://bestappever.com/c/rtgm/339514220/nom" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/bae-small_2009.png" border="0" /></a><span style=" line-height: 12pt; text-align:center;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;color:#d9d9d9;">Nominate<br /><b>MiniSquadron</b><br />for<br /><b>Best Retro Reborn Game</b><br /><a href="http://bestappever.com/c/rtgm/339514220/nom" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/button_nominate.png" border="0" /></a></span></center></div><br /><div style="margin-right: auto;margin-left: auto;width: 160px;background-color: #242426;padding: 5px;border: 3px solid #731616;"><center><a href="http://bestappever.com/c/argm/339514220/nom" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/bae-small_2009.png" border="0" /></a><span style=" line-height: 12pt; text-align:center;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;color:#d9d9d9;">Nominate<br /><b>MiniSquadron</b><br />for<br /><b>Best Arcade Game</b><br /><a href="http://bestappever.com/c/argm/339514220/nom" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/button_nominate.png" border="0" /></a></span></center></div><br /><div style="margin-right: auto;margin-left: auto;width: 160px;background-color: #242426;padding: 5px;border: 3px solid #731616;"><center><a href="http://bestappever.com/c/grgm/339514220/nom" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/bae-small_2009.png" border=0></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size: 10pt;<br />line-height: 12pt;<br />text-align:center;color: #d9d9d9;">Nominate<br><b>MiniSquadron</b><br>for<br><b>Best Game Graphics</b><br><a href="http://bestappever.com/c/grgm/339514220/nom" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/button_nominate.png" border=0></a></span></center></div><br /><div style="margin-right: auto;margin-left: auto;width: 160px;background-color: #242426;padding: 5px;border: 3px solid #731616;"><center><a href="http://bestappever.com/c/acgm/339514220/nom" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/bae-small_2009.png" border="0" /></a><span style=" line-height: 12pt; text-align:center;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;color:#d9d9d9;">Nominate<br /><b>MiniSquadron</b><br />for<br /><b>Best Action Game</b><br /><a href="http://bestappever.com/c/acgm/339514220/nom" target="_blank"><img src="http://bestappever.com/images/button_nominate.png" border="0" /></a></span></center></div><br /><br />But feel free to choose your own category. In particular I would like to see it at least get nominated for "Best Productivity Enhancer".</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">( <sup style="line-height: 1em; ">^</sup>ω<sup style="line-height: 1em; ">^</sup>)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">I'll do my best to update with Part 3 of "How To Make MiniSquadron" when I get a bit of spare time (LOL)</span></span><br /></span></span><br /><br /></div>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-86123097594970489422009-11-28T14:45:00.000-08:002009-12-07T16:21:52.508-08:00#All The Single Ladies#<div style="text-align: left;">The...er...slightly skewed demographic of MiniSquadron (at least those watching the trailer on YouTube) (click through for larger - stupid blogger won't let me post full res jpgs - anyone?):</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/Sx2bc7sKO-I/AAAAAAAAANY/nMwg66rFqJs/s400/blah.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412653248530758626" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px; " /></span></div>100% Males between the age of 18-24 + 2 girls (Mel from Livegeeks.fr and <span class="fn">Bonnie Eisenman from 148apps.com - only 1 picture of face found).</span><br /><br />I would ask ladies to tweet me a pic of you playing MiniSquadron but that is both highly dodgy and highly unlikely. ┐('~`;)┌Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-79773039420574318402009-11-26T14:35:00.000-08:002009-11-27T05:54:24.621-08:00How To Make MiniSquadron - Part 2<div style="text-align: left;">Right - <a href="http://minisquadron.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-make-minisquadron-tutorial-in-n.html">last time</a> in this sporadic series I had just finished making the 4 week MiniSquadron demo with the red scissors versus the yellow scissors, with you as the commanding Magenta Scissor (snigger - <a href="http://www.b3ta.com/">b3ta</a> reference). And it was at this time that I went to show Dave Ferner and who then thought he could do some pretty art to make this game look "a bit better" (how could it possibly be better than what it is already?). One of the other things I decided to do about now is to basically give the game more of a proper structure and deciding on the final scope of it. As it stands, I was of the opinion that this was a fun enough concept to make into a "half fat" game that deserved at least 3 months of my time. I like to call it going "half fat", with "full fat" basically spending a year to make. This decision only came about when I saw the potential that this game could be from looking at the art that I received. Here is one of the first drafts of Level 1, which would eventually become "Duck Island" (click through for larger):</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/Sw8OwM5wKAI/AAAAAAAAAMs/G64S1hGUmAs/s1600/level1.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/Sw8OwM5wKAI/AAAAAAAAAMs/G64S1hGUmAs/s400/level1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408557898755221506" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 161px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Inspired by this, I made a few trips to North London to sit with Dave and to work out a rough "Skeleton" for the game - what we in the games industry (snarf) call a "Vertical Slice". This little plan sketched out the need for some kinda map, with a number of levels to unlock, and in particular - my idea my idea! - to include *lots* of planes. I really wanted the Pokemon "collect-them-all" feeling going on here - this was crucial. Anyway - we came up with a strong plan for a "half fat" version of the game and proceeded to create the Vertical Slice with placeholder art and me doing the basic coding so we get the structure of the game in place. It is VITAL to do this part because at the moment all I had was some kind of mad tech demo with scissors tailing each other. As an example of the level of "planning" that I did here is the flow-chart for the menu system (note again, the SCISSORS) (click through for bigger):</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/Sw8U44U-JgI/AAAAAAAAAM8/5qrpNN394pQ/s1600/MasterMap.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/Sw8U44U-JgI/AAAAAAAAAM8/5qrpNN394pQ/s400/MasterMap.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408564644920829442" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 318px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And also - check these never before seen placeholder pre-visualisation of some levels made by Dave:</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzYKu_V05O82n0yyKnPUE_cZQRoMKIPtGkOEbxrCLxcN5b0VjEe1IU_u7MT7IaZ6mvs-XIJfRTcRm7SV9puOw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dykSIQQ9QEGtbWdw_71y3G-GzXryJ4qOybCw64ldGrlF23SH9Z6_GqoQlMLQS1pm9cUNORcTenhn63maIiCZg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxZwrYXcKHHa506tNAmpkrF6CsULaw58BDDfN8Mwj5ZxvaNS_1tjNG_3rC8Sng33OOnjgYy8i1NRpyY9gqdCw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>They're super simple but that's all that's required right now. So while all this was going on I coded the Vertical Slice (mmm tasty). Many decisions were made in this period - and this is a source of a lot of fun as well as a lot of amusing jokes. MiniSquadron started off as AccelerometerGame, and it was time to change it to something more relevant. The "official" codename then became "AirRage" - players of MiniSquadron will probably understand the "AirRage!" sign that pops up in the game! In fact, playing dirty and trying to maximise our chances of being noticed in the App Store we were just thinking up names that begun with the letter A. I think at one point Dave suggested "AaaaaaaairRage".</div><div><br /></div><div>OK, one of the things I really want to talk about is the controls of the game. When I started making the game I had this blinkered philosophy that "any iPhone game with an on-screen UI is a game that is obviously not well designed for the device". So that's why the original control for MiniSquadron was the Accelerometer and with no UI. This was RUBBISH. NO ONE could control the thing and I distinctly remember someone playing it for 2 minutes before going back to Flight Control (sigh). So, coming to my senses I reverted to what I know best which was "normal" d-pad controls - but with NO VISIBLE UI. Still sticking to my blinkered philosopy, I made the left side of the screen a virtual d-pad and the right side of the screen a shoot button (so you tap anywhere to shoot).</div><div><br /></div><div>Now here's the interesting thing - the controls were actually usable, and would be refined to the final thing that you can see in MiniSquadron. But the most important part is the NON VISIBLE UI part. When I tried this system on people - after explaining to them about the fact that the left side of the screen is a d-pad and the right side is shoot - people started using it fine but they would always put their finger in the MIDDLE of the screen for control. What was the result of this? It completely blocked the view of the game! What's more interesting is that *I* would do that too even though I know I should be pressing the corners of the screen to "maximise visible screen area". Basically:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Without a VISIBLE d-pad and button to TELL YOU WHERE TO PUT YOUR FINGER the brain places your finger automatically in the middle of the screen!</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I mean - even I did it and it was definitely an unconscious thing! This was a New Thing that I learnt whilst making the game. So in the end, in as much as the UI was visible so that no explanation was required to explain the controls, it was also used to tell you where to put your finger in order to maximise visible screen area.</div><div><br /></div><div>OK, getting bored now, so I will end with a fairly amusing look at an early PreViz of the in game action. Things to note are the excellent animation stuff (I started frothing about how we should be more like Metal Slug!), and the beginnings of the "zoom in" effect when you get a kill.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzvrh9xkUSUCRm9TIPjM30oW0wb8OJhU4XbL82XQm6cMFo7v3hA6HqbzDPzRRrA48qK7fAVQXtlpsqfiHOaiw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Edit: Did I mention how difficult coding and implementing the controls were? Well they were one of the most frustrating parts of the project. Tearing my hair out at why people can't turn the plane and bombing into the ground. The controls were refined for the entire duration of the 4 month project.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Also: If you notice in those early shots you can see in every level there was always 2 runways. This was because in the early builds all the planes start off by being on the runway and taking off. This was fun to watch but actually added almost nothing to gameplay so was taken out.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Tune in next time for - Icon Fun, Illustrations, Network Tools and the Magic Plane Making</b> <b>Machine</b></div>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-3622029809502586932009-11-20T16:00:00.000-08:002009-11-20T16:03:13.308-08:00A Suitable SongThis song came on TV for some reason, I think it was a Carpenters documentary, and other than the fact it's an amazing tune, I found it quite fitting for where I am right now:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/__VQX2Xn7tI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/__VQX2Xn7tI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-75480043966148078782009-11-18T15:48:00.000-08:002009-11-18T16:00:50.006-08:00Thanks the Lord it is OUT!Today MiniSquadron is out and LIVE for you to buy on the AppStore! Amazing stuff - I have to thank everyone who has helped on it - mostly Dave "the bearded one" Ferner for providing a lot of the art. I'll probably do some behind-the-scenes pokes at the people who have all contributed but first I must grab some sleep. Why am I so tired you may ask (or not)? Have I been partying all night in my pants? No! I have instead been submitting news and writing emails all day to various websites and publications to advertise the fact that MiniSquadron is out. This, my friends is the Second War in game development - one that is AS important as the First War (making the actual game).<br /><br />I shall write more once I recover brains - for now - SLEEP!Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-65045696516996269692009-11-11T07:23:00.001-08:002009-11-11T16:14:02.730-08:00How To Make MiniSquadron - A Tutorial In N PartsNow That MiniSquadron is in Submission (that sounds a bit like it's gone into relapse or something), I find myself with a bit of time to consolidate. And by consolidate I mean try to become a normal part of society again and "go outside".<br /><br />But it's cold outside. So instead I'm gonna tell the story of how I went from Zero Code to MiniSquadron The Game in 5 months (and less if you had artists that didn't have to fix giant pendulums hoho). You can then take this recipe and mock me at will - this article will be in N parts because I'll no doubt get bored of writing it all in one go. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Beginning</span><br />So it was June 23rd, 2009, the last day of my contract with Sony London. I had really enjoyed my time there - great people, great location, StreetFighter 4 had just come out and was getting some proper bo sessions at lunchtime. But it ended - and I needed to execute The Plan. <br /><br />The Plan was derived from the fact that I would like to try and realise an ambition to do a little game of my own, that I could find fun in, and that I could then distribute to as many people as I could who also might find it fun. The iPhone at the time suited this mode of thinking - the project itself was to be nothing too complicated, nothing too involved, and the project from start to finish should take no longer than 4 weeks. That's right, this project was initially budgeted for <span style="font-weight:bold;">Four Weeks</span>. Needless to say, things changed - but at that time, that had been the plan. And it was a good time plan - because it meant I had to execute things *immediately*. I already had an iPhone at this point, and I had also bought a cheapo second hand Mac off my mate for a really good price - so the "hardware" was all sorted. My office would be my room/living room/current position in space wherever it may be - I was just missing the actual software - the coding. As for the idea, well I was playing around with having a game that made use of the Accelerometer in the iPhone, mostly because I found it fairly amusing. I had a good few ideas of what to do for the first game, but it was important that it was going to use the Accelerometer - in fact - the XCode project of MiniSquadron to this day is called "AccelerometerGame"!<br /><br />So, June 24th, 2009, I got my XCode and made a few really quick and scrappy prototypes of the games I wanted to do. One was super experimental - and thinking back on it would probably be something I will make again to enter into the <a href="http://experimentalgameplay.com/">Experimental Gameplay Project</a> or some kinda Experimental Indie Festival thing. Basically it was a game based on guessing the orientation of the iPhone using nothing but sound, and as you progressed through the game you had to remember longer sequences of orientations. So, as you start the game, I generate a secret "Goal" orientation G, and then by turning the iPhone in different angles, a sound will play. This sound gets louder the closer you are to G and when it's at its loudest you can touch the screen to complete the step. You then progress onto Level 2, where there are two Goal orientations etc. And then you have a time based score. This might be what Zen Bound can be reduced to essentially maybe (with sound swapped for gfx)? I think I'm gonna make this game this w/e whilst waiting for MiniSquadron to submit anyway just for fun.<br /><br />However I felt it was a bit too whacky, and I wasn't too sure about what to do with the graphics - and I wanted to do something slightly pretty. And after a couple more whacky experiments, I decided to try out some old games I had really enjoyed and see if I could "redo" them for the iPhone so I can play them myself on the move. And hence the story of Bip and Jetstrike on the Amiga as inspiraton. I actually have both on my PC (STILL!!! Bip from here: <a href="http://www.allegro.cc/depot/bip/">http://www.allegro.cc/depot/bip/</a>) and thought I should just do an *exact* clone of Bip. I had no grand illusions at this point, I just wanted to make *something* and it should be fun for me. And using the Accelerometer. Needless to say, things changed.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Week 1</span><br />The first week after I finished work was basically getting a skeleton framework of a game. So by this time I had a *super* basic concept of "Screens" (and UI) in code. In fact here it is:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/Svr1jbfZWHI/AAAAAAAAAMU/DVEWiRLl9PM/s1600-h/IMG_0148.PNG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/Svr1jbfZWHI/AAAAAAAAAMU/DVEWiRLl9PM/s400/IMG_0148.PNG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402900692007999602" /></a><br /><br />You can then move onto the next screen by tapping, and it'll show you some text before entering the game, which was basically just a Frame Rate Counter. This involved some basic tech such as getting an old C++ Math library to run, and getting some OpenGL fonts working, CPU timing, input etc. None of it was very advanced, so it was whacked out in a week but it was a good foundation.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Week 2</span><br />In Week 2 if I remember correctly I believe I actually implemented the basic "graphics engine". That was essentially sprite rendering and texture loading. I then used this to create the basic cloud sprites, parallax level graphics, line drawing for bullets and also a plane flying around, which was hooked up to the Accelerometer (so if you tilt left the plane rotated left and vice versa). Nothing interacted with anything at this point, and there was no real physics or movement. Everything was also hardcoded so there was no concept of "loading". Pah who needs that!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Week 3</span><br />In Week 3 I made the basic collision system for bullets, scores and the plane movement which included the "physics". Now the physics of the plane was very interesting. I started off with your basic Newtonian model F=ma, and it had nice acceleration and forces and behaved "real". But it was utterly impossible to balance or make "fun" and responsive. There was a super simplistic model of engine thrust and gravity (for Force) and then you worked out acceleration 'a' to update movement from that (presuming m=1), but that was in no way how an aircraft behaved! It was laggy and heavy and more akin to the plane in Asteroids or Gravity Force/Lunar Lander as opposed to an agile fighter. So what I did was spend a lot of time - or what I thought was a lot of time then - 4 days(!), just tinkering with the movement characteristics. And the way to do this is to break it down into "states" that the plane is in, and approximate it with a different equation in each state. So instead of F=ma all the time, when it was flying "normally" it would be a much more basic velocity vector, and when it was flying down, it would be a bunch of fudges to make it "go faster due to gravity but still easily turnable" to simulate a diving plane gaining speed but *also still being able to turn quickly*. Essentially instead of one curve to describe the plane movement, it would be loads of different ones at different intervals of speed/angle of plane. This tinkering would carry on throughout another 3 months - but I was not to know this as the game only had one more week to go before it was finished! (^⊿^)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Week 4</span><br />In the final week of the project (pfffffft) I made the enemy "AI", the win conditions (first to a certain score wins) and tied the whole game together a bit more cohesively in terms of "UI" and "Gameflow". I also put in some "special" graphics made out of google image searches and leftover art assets from previous games and BAM! <br /><br />I have created the crappest looking game on earth! I thought at that time it played quite well (I was blatantly wrong it was pretty much a travesty to Game Design), in fact I thought it was so good I started to show my friends! And because they are your friends they don't want to be too harsh so I was encouraged by some ooohing from them. Here are some never before seen screenshots of "AccelerometerGame" in action. Some things to note - the background has a monkey and could be from a famous Arcade game. Your plane is actually a pair of scissors. Yes scissors from some leftover art. There are two sides so you actually had wingmen (wingwomen? wingperson? wingscissor? what?). You were the Magenta Scissor, and your buddies were the Red Scissors. The enemy are the Yellow Scissors. This game was AMAZING.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SvrviX4ncaI/AAAAAAAAAMM/g00azzFY51c/s1600-h/Screenshot+2009.11.10+18.30.27.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SvrviX4ncaI/AAAAAAAAAMM/g00azzFY51c/s400/Screenshot+2009.11.10+18.30.27.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402894076790403490" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SvrviAdZZMI/AAAAAAAAAME/BgPhLqX0qT4/s1600-h/Screenshot+2009.11.10+18.30.21.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SvrviAdZZMI/AAAAAAAAAME/BgPhLqX0qT4/s400/Screenshot+2009.11.10+18.30.21.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402894070502220994" /></a><br /><br />You controlled the game by rotating the iPhone, which then rotated the Magenta Scissor in it's eternal dogfight against the Yellow Scissors, aided by your decidedly stupid Red Scissor wingmen. I honestly thought this game was fun. In fact, one very important person who also thought it was fun AND amazing - and who would be crucial in the next phase of AccelerometerGame - was a man called Dave Ferner, the Man of Art. His reactions and his occurrence in the timeline of the project would lead to what would one day become MiniSquadron.<br /><br />That and the fact that when my Dad saw it he laughed (WHOLE-HEARTEDLY laughed) and said to me in very loud Chinese Cantonese, "WTF is that Son??!! You spend your time doing that like fool? Can you cook yet?? Where is the money??!?" before tottering off to cook up a wicked stir-fry. And so, the making of MiniSquadron proper began...<br /><br />(My face right after I hear Dad Smack Down:)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SvtS6uTyAlI/AAAAAAAAAMg/uL4sf3EzYaY/s1600-h/fffffuuuuuuu.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 251px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SvtS6uTyAlI/AAAAAAAAAMg/uL4sf3EzYaY/s400/fffffuuuuuuu.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403003346777932370" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">TO BE CONTINUED - CONTROL SCHEME HELL, ARTS, GOING HALF-FAT</span>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-63884502661434549012009-11-09T14:38:00.000-08:002009-11-09T17:43:57.243-08:00HAHA! I made it to Submission!Well after a lot of frantic faffing (actually, frantic is completely the wrong word to use. Cutting/editting video and "making HTML" and then sitting around waiting for the upload bar to hit 100% over many hours is more like it) I have actually got MiniSquadron submitted to the App Store and also made a dang WEBSITE using HTML and these things called CSS stylesheet and ting! Check it out here <a href="http://www.minisquadron.com">www.minisquadron.com</a>. Quite chuffed with myself getting the domain name but also highly miffed at why it doesn't come up in Google searches. Stupid blog takes the top spot instead! Gah but Yay! but Gah.<br /><br />So while this is going through the approval process, I shall now attempt to work out the order I should be sending out preview/review/Promo Code/random PR material to people/contacts/twitter etc. It's pretty confusing to be honest, I have already sent out the actual submission build for review to the Top Guys & Gals, but obviously they would probably have the most news and other important stuff to run through first. Let's hope they love MiniSquadron - and the Pink Bunny Plane called Biff - that they skip the rest and shove it on their front page immediately! Come on guys - PINK BUNNY PLANE BIFF!<br /><br />I leave you with my beautiful video which I lovingly crafted and even more lovingly uploaded at a rough rate of 0.001 bits per second over what felt like 2 years. Enjoy!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fPYUXhZLxCg&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fPYUXhZLxCg&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-32087925587183451012009-11-07T14:11:00.000-08:002009-11-07T14:53:44.151-08:00Why So Long?So now that MiniSquadron has been announced for a while, and especially with the initial wave of excitement which entailed from that, I have learnt something about the world of "keeping interest going". In other words, how to make the news in a timely fashion. For all indie devs out there, and in particular one man bands like me, you should know that it takes A HUGE AMOUNT OF TIME to keep posting interesting things - including writing blogs and what have you. This is ON TOP of developing the game - which NEVER STOPS. Right now, even after the build is "finalised" (whatever that means) I am still spending HOURS playing through it REPEATEDLY (I just had a break from a 4 hour repeat playthroughs). This is on top of the beta testers (yay) that have been helping me. I do this to spot bugs but also to do one of the greatest challenges of all in making a game - making it *balanced* and *fun*. And you can almost never get it right. I can only imagine what the makers of Mario must have felt when they played such a perfect game - I hope to experience it one day but that day is far far away but at the same time nearer and nearer as I gain more experience. <br /><br />And not just that, I'm also having to record and cut a new gameplay video, design and make a half decent Splash page website, make screenshots, eat etc. And also become slightly paranoid at why no one bothered with the preview builds I sent them apart from <a href="http://pocketgamer.co.uk">PocketGamer</a>. I'm pretty sure I must have done some horrendous timing or something or the format was wrong or *gulp* I'm just not very news-worthy YET (where's my fame?! Maybe I should go on X-Factor).<br /><br />Anyway - here's something that I did to encourage myself to finish this game. I have a pair of lovely Adidas Trainers which I bought in Tokyo which are now almost 4 years old and literally falling apart (thank you Loctite). I promised myself I wouldn't get new shoes until I've got my first pay cheque from the game and so far....it's been a rubbish incentive because they're still really comfortable. I just wanted an excuse to show you a photo of them (notice the lovely varying height of the sole - its not the angle of the photo):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SvX4q80uDTI/AAAAAAAAAL0/0qGXiCFCx_o/s1600-h/IMG_1408_small.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SvX4q80uDTI/AAAAAAAAAL0/0qGXiCFCx_o/s400/IMG_1408_small.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401496744866221362" /></a><br /><br />My name is Tak and I give you pictures of old trainers in lieu of actual game graphics.Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-46517254273206908762009-11-05T04:26:00.000-08:002009-11-05T04:50:17.910-08:00Complete Set Of Planes!Well, at 2am a couple of nights ago, my artist Dave Ferner has given me the complete set of planes! So I want to share this with you, as these are the babies you can collect up, if you can get that HiScore! (I've blacked out most of them but you can guess at what they are from the silhouette :o))<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SvLHd_5z7SI/AAAAAAAAALI/9oKLJo0SLeo/s1600-h/web_all_planes.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SvLHd_5z7SI/AAAAAAAAALI/9oKLJo0SLeo/s400/web_all_planes.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400598221354691874" /></a><br />On top of that - I thought I'd post some of the sprite work as well - I've always enjoyed looking at sprite pages when I played Amiga games so here are some (wow thats quite a lot - click through for more detail!):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SvLIp6PT_lI/AAAAAAAAALQ/P22so8l1ybo/s1600-h/spritepage1.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SvLIp6PT_lI/AAAAAAAAALQ/P22so8l1ybo/s400/spritepage1.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400599525504319058" /></a><br />In other news, I will spend a couple more days to tie up the stats of the planes to the actual sprite, and then SUBMIT SUBMIT (゚Д゚;≡;゚Д゚)Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-75220388897030288122009-11-02T16:56:00.000-08:002009-11-02T17:09:33.776-08:00Animal Death NoisesI've finally uploaded the unedited recording of The Whitney + Secret Laughing American Man making animal death noises for the game. I thought it was pretty amusing and embarassing so therefore I must share it with the internet world. See if you can match the sound to the animal!! And for Bonus points - name those Video Transitions!!<br /><br />Pro Tip: Don't use Windows Movie Maker when you already have Adobe Premiere Pro installed on the same machine. One crashes in Vista, the other doesn't. Guess which one I tried to use for a whole hour before realising I had the other. Yes I am an idiot.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/opabrJIDvlc&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/opabrJIDvlc&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-83103941645343029212009-11-01T16:29:00.000-08:002009-11-01T16:40:58.044-08:00Feedbacks From HumansIt's really nice getting feedback from people who have been playing beta/preview builds of the game. Positive or negative it all helps to hone the game and to make it have that polish which I hope will distinguish it as a "professional product". It's one of the many goals I have in the back of my mind when I set out to become an "Indie Dev" - I always wanted to maintain an extremely (if not impossibly) high professional standard for as much of the development as possible - there was no way I wanted to be seen as an amateur - I would be letting myself and everyone else who have helped on the game down. Obviously - it being an impossibly high standard means there are sections of the game that are not up to my standards, but they will definitely be improved upon in time. Aim for the sky to touch the ceiling right? (Which was, incidentally, a game I used to play when I was a child - trying to touch the ceiling. Such a foolish child - playing too much Mario and expecting coins to pop out if I hit it).<div><br /></div><div>Submission date is set to be 2 weeks from now MAX. Ramping up PR effort in the meanwhile...</div><div><div><br /></div><div>Hello to mel and <a href="http://www.livegeek.fr/">LiveGeeks.fr</a>!</div><div><br /></div><div>(Also - I hope to upload the raw sound clips from the SFX recording session soon!)</div><div><br /></div></div>Takhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3032979754907009447.post-50167744258352872202009-10-30T04:16:00.000-07:002009-10-30T13:28:56.399-07:00Screenshots of new planes!I've just had some more <edit>WORK IN PROGRESS</edit> artwork for the planes come in by my artist. They're the beginner planes and they look so damn cute I just had to post them up here - LOOK AT THE BLOBBY PLANE!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SurNQKsfW2I/AAAAAAAAAKc/TZO2ntWyhmk/s1600-h/beginner_bips.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4l7WtSH-Et0/SurNQKsfW2I/AAAAAAAAAKc/TZO2ntWyhmk/s400/beginner_bips.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398352780989520738" border="0" /></a><br />I'm just about to head off to get some SFX and BGM now, I've already had all the Voice Overs sent over by The Whitney, I'll see if I can work out how to post the raw recording as it's pretty funny** to hear people try to invent noises for "Octopus Dying".<br /><br />** Read: DisturbingTakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503882152238552859noreply@blogger.com4