I'm in preparation mode, now, and am trying to fix the outer shell of NeonPlat Adventures, so that the game looks a little less rough around the edges, for all the people who'll be playing the lovely beta edition on Friday.
Today I worked on the menu a little, fiddled with that "about" section that I never bother to fill in, and added nice level open/close sweepy things that make things look a little less slapped together.
They're still just slabs of coloured rectangles, but they swo...

Today's plan
Make a Font
Add a Baddy
How much of the plan did I manage to actually bother to do?!?

I tried, today, but I just wasn't quite into it once the game started to build up.
Today's unfinished game, Unknown.....!

PlayMyCode games no longer work

<img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/pmc_unknown-300x193.png">

A simple little maze game.
Guide "Generic 8-bit chr #3" to grab all the little gems.
You can't step on two same-coloured tiles one after the other, and try not to crumble the floors or that'll kill you, too..

PlayMyCode games no longer work

Time taken : 1 hour, and about 2 minutes!

I've always found Flash slightly more complicated than it needs to be.
For a few years I attempted to learn various versions of the official Flash demoes, and SoThink's 900% cheaper clone. They were ok, but they weren't designed for coders. Flash was an artist's tool, with tweening and vector graphics and all that other none-codery stuff.

Another Day, Another Game!
Today's is a little bit tricky, I must admit, but it's a nice and simple one once you get the hang of it.
Tap the colour co-ordinated cursor key, just as the two fellows are meeting, and you score points.
If you're too late, you get no points, and lose a life.

This week, I started a game on a grid.
It started well enough, with a lovely grid-doodling method making nice colourful griddy squares, and a simple circle on the top for the player. Then I got to the point where I had to do character movement, and my head just kinda went "Ugh.. I just can't be arsed!!"
(URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/NoGoA.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/NoGoA-300x236.png" alt="" title="NoGoA" width="300" height="2...

A random game idea on Sunday, with a totally random name, and then a shock co-incidence when Monday turned out to be Roger Hargreaves' birthday, and the Mr Men ended up being plastered all over Google!
I couldn't have planned that.. I'm far too lazy to have planned that!
<img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Mister_Smash_20110510_Logo_thumb.png">

Today I've been continuing to fiddle about with all the framework's drawing methods.
The engine seems rather fickle, and will sometimes do a bunch of big sprites, and other times do a buttload of tiny ones.
I've currently got the settings to a nice middleground.
It can handle quite a bit, so long as you don't give it mountains of giant sprites to contend with!!
<a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/photo-1.png"><img src="https://AGameAWee...

A Pro/Con list might've helped beforehand!!!
Fuck it, 70 quid down the drain..
carry on.

Another day pondering about the should/shouldn't monkey issue.
Another day wondering if I shouldn't just be writing a game..
I should be focusing on the important bits, but instead, my minds contemplating what could be.
We're in March.

Oh, Mark.. What have you done!
I was happily coding away at AGameAWeek, and now I'm stuck in this odd Will I/Won't I scenario, unsure as to what to do next..
I spent a few hours playing with Monkey again, Yesterday, and am still unsure which is the better path.
Monkey has no recolouring for sprites. That's a pretty big deal, and is a bit of a biggy when your onscreen text is sprites. No sprite colors means one text color.
Even my Tandy TRS 80 could do more than one text c...

The year is new, but the logo's old.
Sod it. I love this logo!
I should be doing a year-long roundup thing, but I've not had much time, what with the whole Advent and stuff.
No matter, there's been some good, and plenty of bad, and that's what AGameAWeek's all about!

<img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Platdude__s_Retro_Advent_Collection_20101201_Logo_thumb.png">
A brand new game, EVERY DAY over Christmas!

I'm in too deep.
I can't stop!
And yet I also didn't plan ahead far enough, and will be spending most of this morning removing a bunch of stuff, and redoing it all.
Gah!

54 games. Last year I only managed about 30-odd, so I think that's pretty good going.
Sure, it might not have truely actually been A Game "Per" Week, but I did at least keep the ratio up.
If I hadn't taken the time out to build the framework, I probably would've actually achieved the target a little better
The stats show I was pretty much on top of things up until that point, but then things got slower and slower until my buffer zone was all dried up.
Anyhoo, this is a n...

Jayenkai's World Cup Challenge : <a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/2010/06/jayenkais-world-cup-challenge/">A plan to do something, rather than sit watching football for 90 minutes each and every day..</a>
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No fair, I missed yesterday
Blame Apple. They sent me my iPhing Dev License, and I spent the day playing about with that, and installing everything again...

Simply put, Awesome!!!
Hop around, grab the balls, throw them at the bad guys, and paint all the white floor tiles in the colour of your pants!

There are four difficulty modes on the titlescreen, and you can play Co-Op style with up to four players simultaneously!!! (although, you all have to be using the one system. Still haven't learned to do any Network stuff, yet!!)
<a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/NeonPlat_2_20100608B.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com...

I'd planned to do my regular iPhing development learning thing today, but.
Meh, bad head, can't think, not in the mood..
Never mind..
Instead, I'm playing about with NeonPlat2.

Uhoh, the ratio's dropping!
No matter, this week's been SUPER busy, what with it being the week I finally got a Mac.
As seen the other day, I re-released <a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/2010/05/8-brand-new-freeware-mac-games/">8 of my games for Mac</a>. It's not just Steam on Mac!!! You can play UFO246, too!
Today sees a couple of extra bonuses.
<a href="https://socoder.net/uploads/1/JNKPlat_2010_edition_(Screenshot_18_May_2010_094853).png"><img src...

AGameAWeek! Seems like a long long time since I last did this.
In reality, it's only been a month, but BOY did that feel like an eternity!
Let's have a look at this week's game..
<a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Gravity_Bombs_20100504A.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Gravity_Bombs_20100504A_thumb.png"></a>

After the fun of a JNKPlat-based April, it's time to get back into the AGameAWeek spirit, and out of the silly ranty 2BeesInDePub mood that I'm currently in.
This week I'm playing around with black holes. Except they're not black.
The player has 4 coloured shooty bobs, and must fire missiles to clog up the not-black-holes.
Each hole hit blasts out more little missiles, and it all becomes a nice swooshy swirly colourful frenzy of dots.
<a href="https://socoder.net/...

Very rarely do I get feedback direct, other than from the few of you who seem to hang around here a lot, but there is feedback out there.. if you really hunt for it!
This past couple of weeks have, as per usual, been all about the Two-Button-Jump.
"OMG! Two!? WTF!" and so on. I can deal with those complaints, I've heard them many a time before, and even added the extra one-button rubbishy mode to help those who can't shut up about it.
It's annoying, but what the hey.
*fingers in ea...

August 26th 2009
That's the last time I did a Mailbag post!
Blinkin' eck!
Over the past 6/7 months, I've occasionally dipped into the mailbag and plucked out little snippets, but I figured it was about time I did a proper one.

A great little platformer, this week, albeit one without an end!
Well, there is an end, but I'm not 100% sure anyone will reach it. Having said that, I'm probably not the world's best person to ask about that. I suck at playing!
Anyhoo...
<a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Munky_in_a_Mario_Costume_20100316A.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Munky_in_a_Mario_Costume_20100316A_thumb.png"></a>

*phew* Just about!!!
<img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Munky_Blocks_DS_20091124A_thumb.png">
Munky Blocks DS, a complete remake of the original that can even make use of the level files from the PC edition, but also adds in a little mix of "Munky's Block" levels, too.
In the end, it's turned out as a lovely little game, but BOY was that a rushed ending!