Or rather, he needs one, but doesn't quite have one.
That's on tomorrow morning/tonight's list of things to do.
Otherwise we've got sounds, graphics, music, levels, level progression, bonus level sets and more.
Everything's nice and happy!

Sometimes you have really productive days.
Occasionally, though, those really productive days seem to drag on and on, and not actually produce much at all!
Here's what I've done today.
1. We're up to 5 skins, since I added a plain rock+lava one.

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Socoder Newsletter
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<img src="https://socoder.net/uploads/1/munkysblockb.png" style="float:left;">
Munky's Block is graphically coming along nicely, but unfortunately I've yet to actually start making levels.
So far it's all been "Niceness" stuff, and as a result things are lacking a bit.
Probably should've stuck to the blocky background like last time.

I was struggling to come up with an interesting game, this week, when my Mum decided to show me her latest highscore on Yahtzee.
..
Pling!
New idea!

RPG
Here's what's done.
1. Characters
2. Main character

Hello all, Welcome to year two!
This year, I'll be keeping track of the weeks, and games, and things like that, so we can tally up as we go along.
Week 1, Game 1, 1:1 ratio! Good stuff!
This week's game isn't a game. It's more of a toy.

Nope, not yet.
We'll call it "On Hiatus", whilst I decide what to do next.
Meanwhile, I'm not sure whether to bother with Flash.
Or at least, not Flex, anyway. 'cos BOY, that shit's messy!

The AGameAWeek 2008-2009 Retrospective

(URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-one/">Part One), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-two/">Part Two), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-three/">Part Three), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-four/">Part Four), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-five/">Part Five)

AGame...

Not much this week, or at least, not as good as Microbes anyway!
I decided to redo Raining Bombs, from a few weeks ago.
The last one was for my Cookie phone, (which has since become a Viewty phone) and this one's for Windows.

OMG! It's a Trial Edition!! WTF!? Demo! ARGH!!!
Actually, I've not finished yet.
But rather than skip out a week of AGameAWeek, I've decided to release a quick Trial edition.
In this version, you must guide Platdude through 11 classic JNKPlatDS08 levels.

I made a start on this game a few days ago, and things seem to be progressing at a decent enough rate.
The basic gameplay engine is in there, now. The test level (200x50 blocks) loads, platdude can run around, grab onto bars, jump around and use ladders. He can also work plungers and have the blocks open and shut accordingly.
So, that's all nice!

This week's Wednesday Workshop (#200! wowie) asked us to create a game using no more than 2000 characters.
I managed to recreate the classic 8-bit title "Splat!", whereby you control a spider through a maze, picking up fruit.
In order to squeeze all that into 2000 characters, I opted for simpler mouse movement, and few other bits and pieces.
Then I figured, what the heck, and decided to make it a wee bit bigger for AGameAWeek.
Guide the worm through the maze, grab the circles, av...

Is that title subtle enough for Google, d'you think?
This week, I've been getting to grips with MidletPascal, and dodging it's annoying mid-compile crashes, in a vague attempt to get some games onto my phone.
Sorry folks, this week's AGameAWeek is entirely Java based.
Boooo!!

I've added bloom, and a few more tweaks here and there.
The complete list of changes can be seen inside.
Otherwise, the usual two things.

I'm taking a day off from H~S~R today, thinking ahead for next weeks game, which may/may not be a word game.. not sure..
Anyhoo, there are bugs, and Swarmer found a couple, so head inside to have a good read about 'em.

Yeay! It's Horizontal Shooter Redux!!
In this first release, there's a few pointers. Read inside for those.
Otherwise, nice and quick, here's a picture.

I had intended to update this a fair bit. Add music, add extra pickups, things like that.
But in the end, I instead decided to leave it as it is.
This is (with added Highscore table) pretty much as it is at the end of the two hour session.
A nice simple game, with a basic gameplay method.

Game 3 needed a few tweaks, here and there, this morning.
Mostly due to the controls being a little twitchy.
Plus, something's missing.
And annoyingly, it's becoming increasingly apparent that the missing something is indeed Ingame Music!

For DS Development, I use PALib and DevKitPro.
DevKitPro compiles everything nicely for the DS, whilst PALib is a set of functions that makes everything nice and usable, as opposed be being a baffling chaotic mess!
However, if you try updating it, a whole fleet of incompatibilities arise, be it because of DevKitPro changing, or PALib. And, it's not just little things either. A simple PALib upgrade will mean that pretty much all of my old games start getting little breaks in them, and it...

My mum likes crosswords!!!
And, heck. I like crosswords, too!
Except, the trouble is, there's not really a decent crossword game on the DS.
Don't get me wrong, there's a fair few games, and The Times (released this week) in particular, has a cracking selection of clues/answers, and some really nice layouts.

This week, I've been working on an Asteroids game.
On Thursday, it was a bog standard Asteroids game, that seriously needed updating.
On Friday, I changed the controls to mouse. The game plays like a cross between Asteroids and Horizontal Shooter.
On Sunday, I tweaked the controls further, and added particles.

Much as expected, this week's AGameAWeek has become a Vib Ribbon style game.
To be honest, I had this idea for a moment, last week, whilst doing the Go Left game. The idea stayed in my head for about a minute, before vanishing.
But having finally gotten around to playing Vib Ribbon, this week, I figured it was time to put the plan into action, and with a nice time-saving addition (the graphics!) I managed to get it done in time.
So here's J-Walker.
<a href="https://agamea...

I've had it in my desk's cupboard for years.
I bought the game not long after my original Playstation broke, thinking I'd pick up a PSX cheap somewhere..
I never did.
And, I never bought a PS2, or a PSP, or PS3, or anything else that could play it.

Every so often, I like to rant here, for no real reason.
Today, whilst playing Burnout 3 on my Xbox Classic, the whole "Customisable Soundtracks on the X360" issue appeared once again, so I figured I should rant about it.
See, on Burnout XBox, you used the game to pick the soundtrack, and then that played it in the background.
But, it ALSO stopped the music when you crashed, turned down the music when there was information to be told, and other useful things.
But, for some really biz...

I've had a couple of emails about the donate button already, so thought I should clarify why it's there.
I write a game a week.. Sometimes they're good, sometimes their rubbish, and sometimes they're really fun, playable, and can keep you playing for a good few hours.
I can do this, because I have a lot of free time. And by "a lot of free time", I mean A LOT of free time.
The webhost is pretty much minimal cost (GoDaddy), the programming languages range from 0 cost (DS/XN...