Tag: development

Scurry Game Devlog 3 – Lots of new stuff!

So it has been a while since I have posted any news about the game that Eric and I are working on. Scurry is coming along great and I have lots to show.

We have added a title screen, complete with twitching antennae.

Scurry Title screen

 

Here are a few shots of gameplay:

Scurry Screen Scurry Screen

A lot of the work has been Eric getting everything setup to scale and fit any screen size properly, detect desktop or mobile browsers, and have working audio on many devices.

I on the other hand have been working on the artwork and animations, I am excited about how it is all turning out, and we have a roadmap for completing the game with two types of levels and 4 levels total. It will feel really good to finish off our first real game.

Play the current version of the game here: http://scurrygame.com

Scurry Game Dev Log – New Game!

New Indie Game project!

Scurry is an HTML5 browser game where you play as a beetle who is running through a grocery store. Run as fast as you can, pull off daring jumps, avoid shoppers, roach motels and other treacherous obstacles! How far will you make it?

Here is what Scurry looked like right after Eric added in my character sprite:
Scurry Game early screentshot

The project is a two-person team effort; Eric Lathrop is doing the code, and I am working the artwork.

We just met up at a coffee shop for our first session and got a lot done, I am very happy with how it is turning out so far.

Here is a shot of the game with some shelf art and grocery store props added:

Scurry early artworkAs of now, Eric has about 12 hours in of Dev time, and I have spent around 6 hours doing the artwork
I have some videos below that show the progress taking Eric’s engine and adding in the art assets I have been creating. Eric is working on generating infinite levels using repeating and randomized artwork, resulting in a new experience for the player each time.

New Game Started!

SO I have started a new game project using Unity and Javascript, I am calling it Path, a part of the word emPATHy  and it is about a girl who can mimic the abilities of any living thing for the purpose of getting though the puzzle-platformer world she apparently exists in.

I started work on the project November 22nd 2013, and  would say I have invested around 30-40 hours into it so far.

Here are some screenshots:

When you hit the A button next to a living thing, you can get an ability from it, like the frog that lets you jump higher/farther.Path-ss4For early obstacles  it will be obvious what creatures to Path, but later the harder puzzles will have to switching and trying things to see what works, and you can only use one ability at a time. Path-ss3 I have been experimenting with AI, raycasting, pathfinding, and procedural/randomization stuff during this project as well, and while none of that is working just yet for me, I am excited to keep trying and improve my game programming skills.Path-ss2 

Squid Game Dev Log – Learning Unity3D

… I have been reading up on the Indie Games industry, and It seems that the only way to get by making browser-besed games is ads.
I hate ads!
So I looked into making games that would work on Mac or Windows, and found Unity.   Unity is a 3d engine, but there are a few good resources I have foudn that will allow me to create a 2d game using Unity.

I am following a video tutorial now and leanring a lot, it seems like Unity has a lot of flexibility and the Unityscript/Javacript language looks fammiliar to me so that’s a big plus.

I am working on rebuilding the engine for squid game, and trying to get it to look as flat as possible to create a 2d look. I really like the cameras and other things you can use in Unity, really cool stuff!

Heres a snapshot:

 

Indie Game

So I noticed this movie when I was flipping though Netflix and thought I would check it out, it’s called Indie Game The Movie, ( you can check it out here: bit.ly/Km3WmG )

Indie Game: The MovieThe movie itself was really well made, and followed the surprisingly interesting and emotional stories of some unique game developers. These developers don’t work on 1000-person teams for the big guys like EA or Nintendo, instead they work from home or in small offices with teams of one or two people. They are passionate about their creations, and all of them spoke of some part of themselves going into thier work. The great thing about the Indie realm is that they made a big distinction between where (mainstream)games have gone, and the games they loved as a kid. The all talked about Mario, Megaman, Metroid, Zelda – the classics, and were quite frank when giving their opinions about games like Call of Duty and Halo being crap. The movie stirred up the plan I always had when I was a kid, my first dream career was always a video game developer. I used to draw characters from games I loved, but mostly my own I dreamt up, I even tried to make some of my own games in the past using flash but never got too serious with it. After watching the movie  I was inspired again and I started a new side project – a game.

Game Concept Sketch

Squid HTML5 Canvas jQuery javascript Game PreviewMy plan is to create a game using HTML5 Canvas and jQuery/JavaScript that will be playable in browser, or on the iPhone. Another part of this goal is that the game works well, and fits a comfortable button-mapping to an SNES controller.  The underlying reason for this project, like with TouchTint, is that in addition to it being a possible source of income, it will be a big learning experience. I don’t yet have a goal of how big or involved the game will be, but I will include a link to the in-progress version so you can check it out if you want, and see how far along I am.  Hopefully there will be much more to come as I continue on with this idea!